Improvement in boiler-cleaners



J'. A. FORIJON J. E. THOMAS.

BOILER-CLEANERS.

No. 194,036. Patented A ug. 14,1877.

N PETERS, FNOTOJJTHDGRAPHER, WASHINGTON, 0 0,

PATENT- orrron? JOHN A. FORDON, OF BAY CITY, AND JAMESE. THOMAS; 0FWENONA,

MIoHieAN.

IMPROVEMENT IN BOILER-CLEANERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent l lo. 194,036, dated August14, 1877; application filed May as, 1877.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, JOHN A. FORDON, of

Bay City, and JAMES E. THOMAS, of Wenona,

in the county of Bay and State of Michigan, have invented a new anduseful Improvement in Boiler-Cleaners, of which the following is aspecification:

V The water used in steam-boilers is always more or less impregnatedwith foreign matter, and the greatest difficulty, and the one thatcauses the most trouble and expense to steam users, is the deposit ofsediment, and the formation of scale on the inside of the boiler. Thisis caused by the water holding in solution, when fed into the boiler,solid matter, and, in suspension, vegetable matter and dirt, and these,being precipitated by high temperatures, remain behind by evaporation ofthe water. This deposition, if not immediately taken out, will hardenand form incrustation or scale.

The object of our invention is to furnish a device by means of which theimpurities and foreign matter in the water in a steam-boiler may becollected and blown offor be taken out, at the will of the operator; andit consists, mainly, in a peculiar skimming-pan, placed in the boilerjust below the waterline, with a pipe passing through the shell of theboiler to an external receiver or settling-chamber, from which areturn-pipe conducts the water back into the boiler, first, however,passing through the smoke-box, or some other place where it will besubjected to heat, in order to force the circulation of the waterthrough said pipes and chamber, as more fully hereinafter set forth.

Figure 1 is a sectional plan of our apparatus as applied to areturn-flue boiler. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical section at w m.Fig. 3 is a similar section through the chamber at 3/ yln'the drawing, Arepresents a partially-incased return-flue boiler, and B its smoke-box.U is a skimming-pan resting on the flues. This pan is a triangularplate, with its apex to the rear, and near the back end of the boiler.Itsfront edge extends nearly across the shell of the boiler, while itstwo other sides are'turned up to form deflectors. Near the apex,however, the side flanges are replaced by a wire-cloth screen, a, which,while not entirely arresting the natural flow of the surface-water tothe rear, will deflect the current and the floating scum and impuritiesheld in suspension toward and into the mouth of a pipe, D, which passesthrough the head of the boiler and into one end of a receiving-chamber,E, provided with one or more vertical diaphragms or partitions, b, whichare so arranged as to compel the water to pass from top to bottom, andvice versa, in going through, thereby retarding the current, in order tofacilitate the deposition of the sediment in the chamber, from which itcan be blown out through one or more blow-off cocks; or it can beremoved through the hand-holes provided for that purpose.

F is the return-pipe, issuing from the other end of the chamber E, atthe top, which pipe, before it passes into the boiler below thewaterline, is led through the smoke-box, or some other point where itwill be subjected to the action of the heated gases, which, in raisingthe temperature of the Water contained therein, expands it and causes itto seek an outlet.

The easiest and most direct outlet in this case is into the boiler, and,in consequence, the circulation of the water through the receiver isestablished and maintained. Theforeign matter in the water, beingliberated by the heat, rises to the surface in the form of scum, and, asthere is a current in. the boiler from front to rear on the surface ofthe water, and from rear to front at the bottom, due to the greater heatof the fire under the front part of the boiler, this scum is carriedalong onto the pan, and deflected into the mouth of the pipe D, Whilethe Water passes through the screen. The current through the said pipecarries the water so charged with impurities into the receiver, wherethe latter are therein precipitated, as described.

We are aware that it is not original with us to combine in aboiler-cleaner a flow-pipe for conducting off the surface-water,asediment-collecting chamber, and a pipe to return up by the said pan,the settling-chamber E, the water to the boiler, and we hereby disclaimand return-pipe F, substantially as described the same; but 1 and shown.4

What we claim as our invention is- 1' JOHN ALLAN FORDON. Thecombination, with a steam-boiler, of JAMES ELI THOMAS.

the triangular skimming-pan G, placed in the rear part of the boiler, soas to receive at its large open end the surface-current, the flow- J. R.LAHEY, pipe D, for conducting 011 the material caught 1 J. B. HART.

Witnesses

